


Guiding Ghouls

by Metal_Chocobo



Series: Graduating Ghouls [1]
Category: Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated (TV 2010), Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-20 09:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9485354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: Velma enjoyed teaching science at Miss Grimwood’s Finishing School for Ghouls. They had never mistaken evolution for witchcraft.





	

“Very Good, Wednesday. That was certainly an expressive presentation,” Velma said, clapping along with the rest of the class. “However, your demonstration of the circulatory system wasn’t quite circular.”

“What do you mean, Ms. Dinkley?” Wednesday asked as she began packing up her project.

“Well, the head is part of the circulatory system and since your Marie Antoinette is missing hers, the blood didn’t stay in a contained cycling system like it’s supposed to,” Velma explained, gesturing around the room. Wednesday’s project had spurted blood all over the classroom, completely splattering the front row. “It made for a highly creative demonstration, but I will have to dock points for inaccuracy. After all, blood doesn’t typically circulate when the head is missing.”

Wednesday nodded in understanding and finished packing up her model. She slowly carried it to the back of the classroom and gently set it down beside the other anatomy projects. While Velma knew Wednesday had the assignment’s grading rubric from the start, she still felt bad for having to dock an entire letter grade from the project right off the bat. She was a brilliant kid and Velma really didn’t want to deter her interest in science.

“You know, if you bring in Lady Antoinette’s head on Monday with a paper explaining the differences in how the circulatory system functions with and without a connected head, I can award you additional partial credit,” Velma said. Wednesday paused and then turned to her teacher with an unexpected smile on her face.

“Thank you. I’ll do just that,” Wednesday said. “Though Pugsley will be disappointed I can’t send him her head after all.”

“You can send it to him after I return the graded projects,” Velma promised. 

With that the bell rang, signaling the end of first period. As the girls filed out of the room, Velma reminded them all to read chapter seven in their text and to bring boots on Monday. Class would be spent in Barren Bog catching frogs for their next unit. Once they were gone, Velma took off her glasses and wiped away the blood splatter from Wednesday’s project. She had a few minutes to clean up the worst of the presentation before her next class arrived, and while they wouldn’t mind the blood, she didn’t want it staining their clothing. Tanis would be especially hard hit if her bandages soaked up the blood, since they were a pain to change.

“Woah, since when did you start doing animal sacrifice during class?” Marcie asked. She walked into the room just as Velma ran a rag over the last of the front row seats. “I’m pretty certain Miss Grimwood insisted that was only an outside, after-school, sanctioned activity.”

“I didn’t,” Velma said, slowly rising. Marcie handed her a steaming coffee, which she gladly accepted. “Wednesday Addams’s project was a little more dynamic than I expected.”

“That’s why you should always wear a lab coat while teaching,” Marcie pointed out. “I still do it even though I’m strictly a math-only teacher these days.”

“I knew there was a reason I put this thing on this morning,” Velma said, tugging at the collar of her now blood splattered lab coat. She was grateful she had gone with her gut and pulled it on at the last minute before class. Not only had it saved her favorite sweater, but also the scarf Marcie had given her for her birthday. “Thanks for the coffee, Marcie.”

“Hey, I was off campus running a few errands during my prep period when I realized I needed coffee. It wasn’t any trouble picking up a cup for you as well.” Marcie shrugged.

“I still appreciate it,” Velma said. She rose on her tiptoes to lightly peck Marcie. Since they were at work and she could hear Winnie howling in the hall, which meant her next class was about to arrive, she didn’t do anything more. “You’d better get to class, Miss Fleach, don’t want the little monsters making a mess of your room.”

Marcie rolled her eyes, but she was grinning as she headed toward the door. She promised to find Velma at lunch then narrowly avoided being bowled over by an excited wolfgirl racing her best friend. Phantasma, of course, could simply float through the walls—which always seemed like an unfair advantage to Winnie in their races—and was therefore less of a collision danger for anyone who got in their way. After Winnie mumbled an apology to Marcie, both girls chorused their greeting to Velma and took their seats. The rest of the class filed in more slowly. Then Velma started her chemistry class.

Chemistry ended up being quite explosive. Velma was reminded about how grateful she was that her classroom was in the old stone portion of Miss Grimwood’s Finishing School for Ghouls because otherwise her students would have burned this place down. She scraped as much of the last experiment off the ceiling as she could, but didn’t bother trying to do a thing about the scorch marks. From past experience, Velma knew nothing short of a power sander would remove those marks and the school already had so many scorch marks from Matches that a few more on the ceiling of the science lab wouldn’t make a difference.

Since things were clean enough, she locked up her classroom and headed to the teacher’s lounge for lunch. Everyone had lunch at the same time, which was nice for the faculty as well as the students because it meant they could compare stories about problem students, coordinate lesson plans, and most importantly, gossip. Velma grabbed her lunch out of the fridge and slid into her usual seat at a small table beside Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne. 

Shaggy and Scooby had been friends of Velma’s for ages, as the three of them had grown up in the same Californian town. Outside of Scooby being a talking dog, they had a fairly typical childhood; though in recent years she had learned her family wasn’t that normal. Velma parted ways with Shaggy and Scooby for college, but had been pleasantly surprised to meet up with them again here at Miss Grimwood’s after her last school fired her for teaching evolution. They had called it witchcraft, which it wasn’t, and when she applied here, Miss Grimwood had been disappointed Velma’s knowledge was limited to science without any spell work. Despite this void, Miss Grimwood had given Velma excellent marks on both her annual performance reviews.

Daphne, on the other hand, was a new friend. She was also a vampire, though it took Velma a few weeks to realize that when she first started working at Grimwood. At the moment she was sucking on a blood pack and staring dreamily out the window onto the neighboring school’s grounds. Likely, her attention was fixed on the same thing she had been obsessing over since the school year started.

“I take it the Calloway cadets are exercising outside again?” Velma asked, trying not to snicker.

“With, like, Fred Jones leading the run,” Shaggy said, rolling his eyes. He bit off a large hunk of his sandwich. “I totally get Daphne being interested in a guy like Fred. He’s, like, the ideal gym teacher dude—which always makes me worry Miss G is gonna realize how terrible of a gym teacher I really am.”

“Aww, you’re the best, Shaggy,” Scooby insisted, putting a paw around Shaggy’s shoulder.

“Thanks bud,” Shaggy said, hugging him back. Scooby carefully bit off most of Shaggy’s sandwich while his attention was diverted. “But what gets to me is that since that blond Adonis showed up, we like, haven’t been able to have a conversation with Daphne that isn’t about Fred’s looks.”

“Fred has such a cute ascot,” Daphne mumbled. Shaggy pointed at her dramatically.

“You see what I mean?” Shaggy scowled. “I thought vampires were supposed to mesmerize people, not the other way around.”

“There there,” Scooby comforted him. “Someday Daphne’ll talk to us again about shoes and other things.”

“Scooby’s right,” Velma agreed. However, she decided to make that reality happen sooner rather than later. She reached over and shook her friend’s shoulder. “Daph, snap out of it. We’d like you back in the real world.”

“Hmm?” Daphne blinked like she was coming out of a trance. “Oh, sorry guys, what were we talking about?”

“That you should either ask Fred out or stop moping about him,” Velma said flatly.

“I can’t do that! What if that threatens his masculinity?” Daphne said. “Modern boys are so fragile.”

“Then he isn’t worth your time.”

“Things don’t work out perfectly for everyone in their first serious relationship.”

“Yeah, I know,” Velma agreed. She looked across the room to Marcie, who was sitting with Angel, the vice-principal and music teacher. She must have caught her eye, because Marcie suddenly grinned and winked at her. Velma smiled and waved back. “However, you’ll never know if you don’t try. Besides, Marcie and I work on our relationship all the time. I mean, we still work with her ex, who hates me, and if that isn’t a constant strain on a relationship, I don’t know what is..”

“I suppose you’re right,” Daphne sighed. “But what if he thinks I’m fat?”

“Like, how could he?” Shaggy demanded. “You’re on a liquid diet. Besides, Daph, any dude who doesn’t see how great you are right off the bat isn’t the guy for you.”

“You don’t need to change for any man,” Scooby agreed vigorously.

“I think the guys always have the correct and supportive advice down, so I don’t really have anything else to add,” Velma said. Daphne smiled at her friends and daintily wiped the blood off her lips.

“Thanks guys,” she said, hugging the three of them tightly. 

The rest of lunch was smooth sailing. Daphne was herself again and actually participated in their lunchtime chatter. Shaggy was in a better mood, which Velma suspected had with the fact Daphne was finally arguing with him about Van Ghoul movies again. Though of course he also appreciated Velma giving him her potato salad after Scooby ate half of his meal. By the time she finished eating, lunch was over, which was a little disappointing since she had wanted to talk with Marcie for a few minutes. At least Velma knew they’d ride home together after Marcie’s potions club.

Earth science passed in a flash, though Velma had to remind certain students that they weren’t allowed to bury their classmates, and then it was time for her prep period. She spent most of the time reviewing the biology projects from this morning and ensuring they’d stay intact over the weekend. Considering the size, variety, and mess they would create if transported incorrectly, Velma decided to only grade them in situ. Luckily the presentations had been the bulk of the grading process, but she wanted to double-check the little details before assigning grades. After all, these projects were taking the place of an exam for this unit, which meant they had to be held to the same standard.

“Oh Velma, I’m so glad to find you in your classroom,” Miss Grimwood said, entering the room shortly before Velma’s prep period ended. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your contract.”

“Is something wrong? Velma asked, setting down Nessie’s functioning model of gills. “You said I was performing well above standard last month during my performance appraisal.”

“Oh and you still are,” Miss Grimwood assured her, patting Velma’s hand. “I misspoke. I was referring to next year’s contract. In fact, I want you to sign a three-year contract with similar conditions to your original two-year plan. With the standard increases in pay and benefits in relation to your years of service, of course.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Velma said. This was the last thing she had expected as there were still several months left in the current school year. “Isn’t this a little soon?”

“Oh not at all,” Miss Grimwood laughed. “We like you and want to keep you at this school long term, Velma. So just sign this contract and then you won’t have to worry about anything.”

“Well, why don’t you leave the contract with me and I’ll look it over. I want to talk with Marcie before I sign anything. I’ll get back to you on this, next week?”

“Of course,” Miss Grimwood said, but Velma could tell she wasn’t thrilled with her answer. “Take all the time that you need.”

“Will do,” Velma promised, ignoring the headmistress’ tone. It was easier doing what she wanted that way.

Her final class of the day was physics, which Velma enjoyed teaching immensely this semester. That was mostly because the class included her favorite student, Elsa Frankenteen, who happened to find science electrifying. This was especially true today, as they were playing with electricity and magnets. The senior class enjoyed defying gravity with magnetism. However, it wasn’t all fun and games, as Elsa got stuck to a wall at one point and it took Velma and Sibella half the period to get her down. Elsa didn’t seem to be hurt by the experience, so Velma decided to let it go after extracting a promise that they’d be more careful in the future.

“Alright ladies, be sure to review your notes and your assignments this weekend,” Velma said. “You have a midterm Tuesday and believe me when I say you don’t want to cram all of your review into the night before. Especially since I expect you to have questions in class on Monday.”

Thorn, Dusk, and Luna were out the door the instant final bell rang. Velma shrugged that off, as the girls were only interested in their band and that was how they typically left class. The rest of the girls filed out until only Elsa and Sibella remained, though even the vampire left moments later promising to meet Elsa at dinner. This was a bit of a surprise. Normally they left together, with Sibella waiting patiently until her friend was ready to go, and not even Elsa typically stayed late on a Friday.

“Hey, what’s up, Elsa?” Velma asked. “Is this about my great uncle’s journal?”

“Not really,” Elsa mumbled, “but I am still interested in that too.”

Something was off about Elsa, but that hadn’t been the case during class. Now her gaze was directed down at her feet and she was refusing to make eye contact, which made Elsa seem more awkward than usual. Since whatever it was she wanted to talk about wasn’t connected to Baron Von Dinkenstein, Velma didn’t have a clue what she needed from her. Normally their conversations revolved around science, however from Elsa’s demeanor she had a creeping feeling this might be more personal. Velma waited a minute for her student to speak, but when Elsa still didn’t say anything, she decided to start putting the lab equipment away. It needed to be done and perhaps the direct attention was tongue-tying Elsa.

Eventually though, Velma ran out of things to put away. She either needed to start grading and formulating her physics exam, or deal with Elsa. She decided on the latter. “Is everything okay, Elsa? You’ve been quiet for a long time. If there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m always willing to listen.”

“You have a thing with Miss Fleach, right, Ms. Dinkley?” Elsa said, suddenly looking straight at her. Velma could feel the fear radiating off her student and she now understood what Elsa wanted from her.

“We’re very close, yes,” Velma said slowly. 

While she personally didn’t feel any reason to hide her preferences, especially not at this school, she had never actually talked to Marcie about this aspect of their relationship. Due to their personalities and professionalism, they had always displayed a cordial relationship in front of the students. Of course their colleagues knew, but there had never been any point in directly mentioning it to the students; it wasn’t relevant to the classroom. Velma would make a point of talking to Marcie about it this weekend, but that wouldn’t help her right now in this situation.

“But it’s not like your relationship with Miss Blake or Mr. Rodgers or Doo,” Elsa insisted.

“You’re right, it’s different,” Velma conceded. “Miss Fleach is very special to me. She holds a different place in my heart than my other friends.”

“Does she know?”

“Is there someone who occupies a similar place in your heart?” Velma asked. She was willing to out herself to Elsa if she had to, she trusted the girl, but she wouldn’t make that choice for Marcie. That meant steering the conversation in a different direction before Elsa reached that question. Elsa nodded slowly. “Someone at this school?”

“Dad said I got a man’s heart when I was built,” Elsa said, looking down at her large hands and feet. “I got a lot of man parts when he built me because he used the freshest pieces he could find. Is that… why I’m this way?”

“No Elsa it’s not,” Velma said firmly. She desperately wished she could hug the teen, who clearly needed one, but even at a finishing school for ghouls the rules about student-teacher contact were clear. The best she could do was reassure her verbally. “As far as current research understands, attraction is something that occurs due to chemical signals in the brain. It’s coded into our very development and DNA. In your case, you may have been made of parts from various origins, but they’re all part of you now and your brain is _your_ brain. That’s where feelings and attraction come from, not the heart. If you feel a certain way about someone, that’s what matters, not how you physically could have come to have these feelings.”

Even if Elsa’s parents had used part or most of a man’s brain, Velma needed Elsa to understand her orientation was simply part of her. It wasn’t something she could change at this point in her development, if she ever could have, and Elsa needed to accept it as part of her whole. Velma didn’t need to know what exactly was inside Elsa’s head to know this truth. If fibbing a little in this particular circumstance made it easier for Elsa to come to terms with her sexuality, Velma would gladly do it for her favorite student. Besides, there was no real reason for Velma to think she was wrong.

“So… I’m just this way for no particular reason?” Elsa asked.

“That’s how I ended up this way.” Velma grinned, sitting down on a desk. “It’s really not that bad, kiddo. No matter what gender you like, if you find someone who likes you back it can be pretty great.”

“Do you think she could like me back?” Elsa asked timidly. There was a hope in her eyes that Velma would do almost anything to keep from going out, but Elsa still needed realistic expectations.

“I don’t know who you like,” Velma replied, though she had her suspicions, “but you’re a great young woman, Elsa. I’m certain anyone would be lucky to be in a relationship with you. However, I have to warn you that if you do decide to share your feelings with her, you have to be ready to accept she might not feel the same. Not even if she also likes girls. Okay?”

“I understand,” Elsa said, nodding slowly. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you, Ms. Dinkley.”

“Any time.”

“If you do get Von Dinkenstein’s journal, I would still like to read it.”

“As soon as my mother mails it to me I plan to make a copy for you,” Velma promised. With that confirmed Elsa left the classroom. Velma was just starting to gather her things when she realized she had one more bit of advice. Running to the door of the room, she caught Elsa’s attention just before she turned the corner. “Elsa, one more thing! If you do decide to talk to your friend, do it in private. There’s nothing that adds to the pressure for either one of you in this sort of situation than an audience.”

“I… hadn’t thought about that,” Elsa said. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” Velma said. She packed up her things and fled her classroom before any other students needed her advice.

Since Marcie was still with potions club she couldn’t immediately go home, so Velma decided to visit the school library. The library had an impressive collection of books: fiction, nonfiction, and supernatural—which in this school straddled the previous two categories. Velma loved to peruse the shelves, however this was also a problematic activity for her because of Verona Dempsey. Technically, Verona was Grimwood’s history teacher and the library was a cooperative effort run by all faculty and staff, but long before Velma arrived she had made the library her primary focus.

She also happened to hate Velma. The feeling wasn’t quite mutual, but Velma had a hard time being comfortable around anyone who constantly looked at her like she was planning on murdering her to eat her corpse. Because that’s what graveyard ghouls did, eat dead human flesh. Understandably, Velma didn’t like to think about Verona’s dietary habits, but whenever she was reminded, she had to suppress a shudder and wonder how Marcie could have dated her. 

When Velma entered the library she cut a wide berth around the librarian’s desk and checkout counter, intent on avoiding Verona for as long as possible. Some of the girls were studying at tables and waved when they noticed her. Of course Velma waved back, she liked all of her students here. She browsed through the books and found several exciting new arrivals. The downside, of course, was that meant talking to Verona if she wanted to take them home. If she asked, Marcie would be willing to check out the books for her, but Velma didn’t want to put her in that position. She needed to be able to talk with all her coworkers. So, she took a deep breath and approached the counter.

“Hello Dempsey,” Velma greeted. She gently set her books down.

“Dinkley.” Verona scowled. “What do you want now?”

“Just to check out these books.”

“Well, you can’t.”

“On what grounds?” Velma demanded. “That book I supposedly never returned is on the shelf, right where I said it would be. Vice-principal Dynamite verified that last month and removed those blocks you installed on my account.”

“Fine,” Verona snapped. She scanned the books quickly and shoved them back at Velma. “Your novels are due in two weeks. Try not to wreck them like you wreck everything else.”

“I haven’t wrecked anything, Verona,” Velma replied. “Marcie chose me of her own free will. I mean, you two had been broken up for months before I even came to Grimwood.”

“We would have gotten back together if you hadn’t shown up. I understand her in a way you never will.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Velma muttered. Grabbing her books she stalked out of the library.

Potions club had to be almost over by now, so Velma decided to head to Marcie’s classroom. On the way she noticed Professor Pericles zig-zagging down the hall as Matches chased him shooting fireballs. Velma wasn’t particularly fond of the foreign languages teacher, he had a habit of making his students cry for improper conjugation, but he didn’t deserve his tail feathers being set on fire.

Velma grabbed Matches around the middle and picked up the little dragon. He scrabbled, trying to break free, but Velma held firm. Eventually he relaxed and became quiet in her arms. Pericles landed on a light fixture and started grooming his wing.

“Thank you, Velma,” he said after a moment. “That kinder dragon has been chasing me for at least half an hour.”

Before Velma could respond, Angel ran down the hall. Pericles took off the moment he spotted her, soaring down the hallway. When she reached Velma she stopped, bent in two, and panted heavily. “You better run you nasty little bird! When I catch up with you I’ll wring your scrawny little neck!”

“What happened?” Velma asked.

“That bird stole the committee fund for the school dance,” Angel said. “The girls worked hard collecting that money and he took it because he doesn’t want them ghouling it up and keeping him awake on a Friday night, despite the fact this dance is a school approved event. Grimwood only hosts three dances a year and I refuse to let Pericles ruin this!”

“Oh crap, I thought Matches was simply chasing him for fun,” Velma said. She set the dragon down and he scampered off, already back on Pericles’s trail. “Do you need any more help catching him?”

“Naw, Velma, we got this, but thanks for the offer,” Angel grinned. Since she had regained her breath, Angel took off after the insidious bird. Velma continued on her way.

Potions club was just letting out when she arrived, which meant that as soon as Marcie grabbed her bag, they were on their way to the car. Despite all the activity still occurring in the school, a brief encounter with Miss Grimwood in the parking was the only delay escaping work. On the drove home Marcie wanted to know what their boss wanted.

“Oh, she’s all hot and heavy to have me sign a new contract,” Velma explained.

“Already?” Marcie asked.

“That was my reaction. I said I wanted to talk to you before making a decision. Frankly, I don’t know if I want to stay at Grimwood long-term. Verona does her best to make things difficult for me and there are definitely times when I wish I was closer to home.”

“But you want to stay with me, right?”

“Obviously,” Velma grinned.

“Why don’t you counteroffer her contract with a short-term one?” Marcie suggested. “I still have another year left on mine, so we can decide together whether we want to stay with Grimwood after that or else move elsewhere.”

“It might also depend on Verona.”

Marcie groaned as Velma parked the car in their driveway. As they went inside she tried to reassure her girlfriend. “You know Verona and I are through, right? We’re friendly, but even if we broke up I’d never go back to her.”

“Have you told her that?” Velma asked.

“Many times,” Marcie swore. She grabbed Velma’s shoulder. “Hey, you know I love you, V.”

“Of course I do,” Velma grinned. She pulled Marcie in for a kiss. “I love you too.”

Normally they’d go out Friday night for dinner and a movie or some other type of date activity. However, after dealing with Miss Grimwood, Elsa, and Verona, Velma just wasn’t feeling it tonight. That was cool with Marcie and she simply placed a delivery order with the local Thai place before pulling up all the _Cosmos_ episodes they hadn’t seen yet on the TV. Velma brought in the mail and fed the cats before settling on the couch beside her.

“Looks like Mom sent a box,” Velma said after sorting through the rest of the post. She cut open the box with her keys and rifled through it. “Jinkies, she finally sent Von Dikenstein’s journal! Oh, there’s a spell book in here for you as well.”

“I’ll have to send Angie a thank you note.”

Marcie said. Velma’s mother liked Marcie better than her past partners; she had been so excited to find out about Marcie because it mean there was finally another witch in the family. Despite her parents’ best efforts, Velma had refused to learn the craft.

“I’m sure she already knows,” Velma said, rolling her eyes. Marcie grinned and elbowed her in the side a few times. Using her boney elbows Marcie could tickle her with pinpoint accuracy. Velma laughed as she swatted her away.

“What do you want the journal for?” Marcie asked. “I know you reevaluated your great uncle’s theories after meeting Elsa, but can that journal really do anything beyond teach you how to make more of them?”

“I’m vaguely interested in the creation process, but I mainly asked for it for Elsa. She wanted to know how her family came to be… and she has a lot of questions.”

“Did something happen today?”

“How open do you want to be about our relationship? I mean, do you want to tell the kids? Elsa was asking me about it today and I had no idea what to say about you.”

“Is she finally going to do something about her crush on Sibella?” Marcie asked, coming to attention. Velma game her a look. “What? It’s pretty obvious, V. She clearly doesn’t find calculus as riveting as your courses because she spends half of class staring at her friend. I think Sibella likes her back? As long as they still put in the effort in class, they’d make a cute couple.”

“I’m surprised,” Velma said. “Impressed too.”

“Yeah, well I understand people better than I let on,” Marcie grinned. “We’re still going to Shaggy and Scoob’s for movie night tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Velma said, “or at least you will. I may have to skip it if I don’t finish writing this exam.”

“Well, we can’t have that. I don't want to hang out with your friends without you.”

“They’re your friends too,” Velma insisted. Marcie simply smiled.

When the doorbell rang Marcie got up and retrieved their food before rejoining Velma. Both cats jumped as well, ready to investigate their food, but Velma shooed them away. She didn’t need a repeat of pad Thai paw prints all over the carpet. They spent a delightful hour watching Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss the nature of the universe over dinner and then Velma worked on creating physics exam questions through the next several episodes. Marcie occasionally offered input on her question design. It wasn’t the most exciting of evenings, but quiet nights at home were the ones Velma treasured most in her spooky little life with Marcie.


End file.
